Coronavirus in Oregon: 251 new cases, 9 deaths as governor orders schools to shift into in-person instruction – OregonLive

The Oregon Health Authority announced 251 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with nine new deaths.

The new cases came in as Gov. Kate Brown announced she would require all schools to return to in-person learning within the next month and a half.

Brown said in a news conference that she would order the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Education to revise guidelines on how to operate schools during the pandemic by March 19. She said elementary schools should begin offering classroom instruction by March 29 and that middle and high schools should do the same by April 19.

Districts that fail to meet Browns deadlines risk losing some state funding. But Charles Boyle, a spokesperson for Brown, told The Oregonian/OregonLive the governor doesnt believe that will happen based on conversations shes had with local leaders.

Virtual learning will still be an option for students, but districts must default to offering either full in-person instruction or a hybrid model based on community infection rates, Brown said.

Where the new cases are by county: Baker (7), Benton (5), Clackamas (17), Clatsop (1), Coos (31), Crook (1), Curry (5), Deschutes (15), Douglas (24), Grant (3), Jackson (29),Jefferson (1), Josephine (7), Klamath (4), Lake (1), Lane (14), Linn (4), Malheur (4), Marion (22), Multnomah (13), Polk (10), Tillamook (4), Umatilla (10), Union (2), Wallowa (1), Washington (15) and Yamhill (1).

Who died: The 2,285th COVID-19 death is a 77-year-old Deschutes County woman who tested positive on Dec. 25 and died on Jan. 20 at her residence.

The 2,286th COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old Deschutes County woman who died on Jan. 24 at her residence.

The 2,287th COVID-19 death is an 82-year-old Jackson County man who tested positive on Jan. 28 and died on March 3 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

The 2,288th COVID-19 death is an 80-year-old man in Jackson County who tested positive on Jan. 27 and died on Feb. 26 at his residence.

The 2,289th COVID-19 death is a 64-year-old Josephine County woman who tested positive on Dec. 22 and died on Feb. 19 at Stanford Health Care.

The 2,290th COVID-19 death is a 95-year-old Lane County man who tested positive on Feb. 19 and died on Feb. 27 at his residence.

The 2,291st COVID-19 death is an 88-year-old Lane County woman who tested positive on Dec. 23 and died on Dec. 29 at her residence.

The 2,292nd COVID-19 death is an 84-year-old Polk County woman who died on Jan. 27 at her residence.

The 2,293rd COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old Washington County woman who tested positive on December 31 and died on Jan. 10 at her residence.

Unless noted above, each person who died had underlying health conditions or state officials were working to determine if the person had underlying medical conditions.

Prevalence of infections: On Friday the state reported 827 new cases out of 52,906 tests performed. Thats a positivity rate of 1.5%.

Who got infected: New or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (14); 10-19 (30); 20-29 (44); 30-39 (34); 40-49 (13); 50-59 (37); 60-69 (31); 70-79 (15); 80 and older (2).

Whos in the hospital: As of Friday, 132 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, eight fewer than the previous day. There were 30 patients with the virus in intensive care, one more than Thursday.

Vaccines administered: The state reported 38,632 new vaccine doses were added to its immunization registry as of Friday. Of that total, 22,438 doses were administered Thursday and 16,194 were administered on previous days but entered into the registry Thursday. Oregon has now administered 1,082,241 first and second vaccine doses about 80% of its total supply.

Since it began: Oregon has had 156,884 confirmed or presumed cases of COVID-19 and 2,293 deaths since the pandemic began, one of the lowest positivity rates in the country. The state has reported administering 3,850,973 tests.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

Eder Campuzano of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

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Coronavirus in Oregon: 251 new cases, 9 deaths as governor orders schools to shift into in-person instruction - OregonLive